Danger sometimes comes with orders for pizza delivery drivers

Sunday

Dec 9, 2012 at 4:56 PM

Christopher Gantous found out the hard way that delivering pizzas can be risky business.

LYDA LONGASTAFF WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — Christopher Gantous found out the hard way that delivering pizzas can be risky business. The 23-year-old was attacked in October after he attempted to deliver a pie in Daytona Beach, police and Gantous said. He was jumped by three women who pummeled him and grabbed $16 from his shorts pocket. What was once considered an easy part-time gig for college students trying to make ends meet has quickly become a job for people of all ages who are trying their best to navigate through tough economic times. But delivering pizza pies has also become an occasionally dangerous job where a handful of workers have been robbed or beaten, or both. Myriad attacks on pizza delivery drivers have been reported around the country this year. One included the fatal shooting of a pizza delivery man in St. Louis County, Mo., in November. The driver was shot in the underarm and suspects stole three pizzas, a published report shows. He was found slumped over the steering wheel of his car by police. In another report from Missouri last month, a delivery woman was attacked with bricks and one of the robbers broke her nose. While robberies and attacks on pizza delivery drivers have somewhat subsided in Daytona Beach, police warn that the occupation of pizza delivery person can be a dangerous undertaking. "In the last couple of years we've had about a dozen robberies (of pizza delivery people)," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood. "Absolutely this is a dangerous occupation." For one Daytona Beach pizza parlor proprietor, getting attacked and robbed while delivering pizza is not worth the trouble. Daniel Soldevilla, owner of Pantheon Pizza on White Street, says he will not send his delivery drivers to certain areas of the city because it's not safe — day or night. "There are neighborhoods that we will not go to because we've had problems," Soldevilla said. "If a person calls from one of those areas they can come to the restaurant to pick up their food. "It's not worth the risk for anybody," Soldevilla said.

At the time, most of the attacks occurred on the city's west side and mostly in the large apartment complexes off Bill France Boulevard and Dunn and Mason Avenues, investigators said. The heists decreased in the two years that followed, but surfaced again in 2011. This year and last year, Daytona Beach police saw about a dozen pizza delivery workers robbed, Chitwood said. Two of the robberies were in October, just two weeks apart, police said. One of them was Gantous, who was targeted in the central part of Daytona Beach on Fremont Avenue. The other incident occurred on the beachside at the riverfront apartment building The Overlook. In that case, the delivery man arrived at the apartment building on Seabreeze Boulevard and knocked at an apartment door where there was no answer. He then called the cellphone left by the caller and told he was at the wrong residence. The suspect, 19-year-old Christopher Collins, greeted the delivery man in the hallway of the building, made small talk, then blasted the victim with a stun gun, police said. But the delivery man never let go of the pizza pies, police said. Collins bolted from the scene and was later arrested. He told investigators he was hungry. Gantous, meanwhile, was roughed up and robbed, but he continues to work at the Pizza Hut on Beville Road. "After this happened to me they (Pizza Hut) got a little stricter," Gantous said. Gantous said the eatery will not deliver to certain neighborhoods in the city after dark. Like Pantheon, callers who live in those areas are asked to come into the business if they want a pizza or anything else. Soldevilla would not specify which neighborhoods his restaurant will not deliver to and said the banned areas are off limits both day and night. Joe Gately, manager of the Domino's Pizza on the beachside, said he tells his delivery drivers to stay in their cars if they arrive at an address and a house is dark. The eatery only delivers on the beachside. "If the lights aren't on, don't stop." Gately said. "We tell our drivers to call the customer." In addition, Gately tells his drivers to take their keys with them when making the delivery. Chitwood said some pizza delivery drivers have not been physically attacked or robbed, but their vehicles have been stolen because they've left their keys in the ignition. Managers and owners at the pizza restaurants contacted for this story said their delivery personnel also carry very little cash, "just enough to make change." The chief said when the robberies were at their worst four years ago, he had undercover investigators deliver pizzas in order to catch the crooks. These days, Chitwood said pizza delivery drivers are welcome to call the Police Department and ask for an officer to accompany them to a delivery if they feel they're in danger. "If we have an officer available, we're more than happy to send one over to accompany a delivery person," Chitwood said. Gantous said that's good to know. He said his advice to other pizza delivery drivers is simple: "Keep your eyes open and call the police if something seems fishy."